How-To coming soon

I’m working on a how-to video that I will release to everyone soon. It shows how I did the photography, post-processing, editing and mixing, etc of this, along with all the tools. I do list out my equipment on the Stuff You Need page here on the site if you simply can’t wait.

30 Days and 30 Nights in Queenstown

(watch this 4K video in Full Screen in HD with good speakers/earphones! )

I’ve just moved to New Zealand, and my first 30 days and 30 nights here made a powerful impression on me. I’ve never done anything quite like this before, so I thought I would share what I felt with you.

(In Germany or can’t see the YouTube video? Here is the Vimeo Version.)

The music is from my friend… one of the few people on earth that makes my heart beat a little faster than normal… Hans Zimmer. Just go ahead and buy all of Hans Zimmer’s work… let it be the soundtrack of your life. 🙂

Over 300 hours of work went into the film’s creation. The Full How-To Video is coming soon, but I did everything myself… the shooting, the post-processing, the editing and sync, etc etc… I used a violent mixture of many tools: Photomatix Pro (Photomatix Review), Magic Bullet Looks (Magic Bullet Looks Review) , Topaz Adjust (Topaz Adjust Review), Adobe Lightroom, Adobe Photoshop, LRTimelapse, Twixtor Pro, Final Cut X. Also thank you for logistical help to my assistant Abraham Stephenson.

I created the entire piece myself here in Queenstown, New Zealand. All of the shots are from this little fertile crescent. I get many questions about that interior shot, and that is from the Commonage Villas. I stayed there for about a month while house-shopping, and I think it has some of the best views in Queenstown! Besides that location, every shot was less than a fifteen minute drive from my home.

Totally radical – amazing – I cannot wait to find out how you did that!

allbeefpaddy

That was intense! I loved the ebb and flow of the clouds and that full moon shot. It’s an awesome piece and a nice evolution of your work.

paulbellinger

I check stuckincustoms weekly but rarely ever comment. This is amazing! Totally blew my mind. My wife even liked it. Awesome Hans Zimmer too. I bought an intervalometer a few weeks ago, but now I’m really pumped to get it out of the bag.

Andrea Boyle

Love it! You are very sensitive to the musical nuances, too. I notices a dip in the music about half way through – scene was dark–a small note and a boat streaks across the lake like a water spider. Then another, and another… a great visual choreography. Oh, and those clouds and scenery… I hope I get there someday. In the meantime I’ll just have to wait for your “how to” video…

susan ratcliff

So awesome Trey – loved all of it and the music by Hans was awesome too – what a beautiful place you live in! 🙂

Casper van Zyl

Loved the video,could not sign in earlier second time round A ok.Your presets are great as well for LR4.

Trey Ratcliff

Thanks everyone 🙂

Trey Ratcliff

thanks – glad you liked these little things 🙂

Trey Ratcliff

I used it! 🙂

Stefan Neuweger

*lol*

DennyLittle

All I can say is WOW. Thanks so much for sharing that wonderful spot you found.
Best Denny

Trey – This is amazing, very dramatic cloud scenes and love the music. Clouds above the water scene looks like a serpent dance, the cottage window scene i am speechless. The price of te cottage for one night is super expensive, hope you will be able to strike a deal with them for some discount which will help us :). I can understand the amount of pain you would have gone in processing each photo and then clubbing them as a video. The place is awesome it’s a paradise for your photography to be available in such short distance. I tried my best to avoid my travel, I guess I need to wait a little longer to meet you in person. Looking forward for your NZ invite towards end of this year.

Wow, wonderful video Trey!!! I really enjoyed it. Your Mom shared a video with me of you know what. Thanks Susan, so very much!! No wonder you wanted to move to Queenstown!! Enjoy your new life with your family, and have a wonderful Saturday!!! 🙂 I forgot to say that I guessed who did the music for your video. He sure has amazing talent!!!

David Campbell

Awesome. Reminds me of a higher-adrenalin Godfrey Reggio film, which is a good thing!

Chris Allen

This looks like the next Planet Earth DVD! Cool stuff Trey. Thanks for sharing.

Jon M

Excellent job! This is really cool. I love how those clouds in some of the scenes seem to be alive….growing and contracting, but more or less staying in the same general area.

Outstanding, Trey!! You always manage to stay on top of the game!! Can’t wait to learn how to do that time lapse stuff…been wanting to do that here in Jakarta for some time… Thanks for all you do for the Photographic community!! Cheers, Scotty

Tyler Thompson

I am beginning to think that you can do anything. Bravo. Have enjoyed following you for years on the blog and am glad you are getting the success you deserve.

Andreas Bank

Thank you so much! You are the best!
Great work and great care for his fans! 🙂

@google-c1ec23de8292d904dc213eba8bf1d17d:disqus that was so incredible that I really have no words. The music by Hans definitely tops is off. I loved that one scene at the edge of the water where you were moving the camera to the left. So cool! Can you tell me what time frame you were shooting at and what your video fps final video output was set to?

beautiful, that’s just great! enjoyed it! love the drama….although i would have expected the the frames a bit ~faster…more in sync with the soundtrack…..but great work as always, loved the roundabout with the bus dissapearing and coming back ….;-) best regards!

Wow stunning Trey! I Love your work. Are you now living in Queenstown permanently? If so I certainly hope to meet you someday, I live in Alexandra NZ only an hour away and I often visit Queenstown. Your blog is a huge source of inspiration for my HDR work and your tutorials play a large part in how my photography has developed over the years. You’re an advocate for quality HDR photography proving that the highly stereotyped over-saturated & ghosted images are not what HDR is all about. It would be an honor to me if i could show you one of my favorite HDRs of Walter Peak Station near Queenstown that was inspired by your work.http://www.viewbug.com/photo/2022461. I Appreciate all your inspiration and guidance, thanks Trey.